We are an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the history, culture and true lives of Romani people worldwide.
We confront racism and oppression wherever we encounter it.
We try to make connections with all the "isms" that make up western culture.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ROMA CHILDREN

Roma children: Britain's hidden care problem

The decision by Rotherham council to
remove three foster children from a couple because of their support of UKIP
provoked intense criticism, but one important detail which emerged is that the
children were from a Roma family - one of a growing number coming into contact
with social services in the UK.

"I've seen the news and read the stories on the internet. They've made me
worry about my children," says Jonas, father of four and a Roma immigrant from
the Czech Republic, now living in Rotherham.

"They think we're stupid and can't take care of ourselves... if social
services knock at my door, I won't let them in.

The distrust between Rotherham's Roma community and social services has grown
in recent years - as has the city's Roma community. Media panic

Foreign media coverage has played its part in stoking the panic, too. Last
year a highly sensationalised documentary aired on Slovakian television,
painting a picture of British social workers out to make money from vulnerable
Slovak children. Unchecked foster parents, the documentary claimed, included
criminals and prostitutes.

The programme's scare tactics were taken up in other Central and South
Eastern European countries and created fear among Roma communities - including
those living in the UK.

"The TV said British people will take the Roma children
out of the family and a lot of Roma people here in Rotherham were worried," says
Jonas.

"But we had a meeting at the community centre with 200 people and the deputy
council leader and social services answered questions and that calmed things
down."

While these sensationalised reports told many untruths about British social
services, it is true that social workers are increasingly coming into contact
with Roma families. Rotherham council says it has 43 Roma children in care or on
child protection plans - far higher than the national average - and it is not
just in Rotherham where this is happening, either.

BBC Radio 4's The Report
programme has discovered how several local authorities across the UK are seeing
a rise in Roma families coming into contact with social services.

Just how many families they are engaging with is unclear, not least because
Britain's family courts are highly secretive for protection reasons.

Local authorities such as Rotherham and Sheffield report a rising number of
Roma parents with child protection plans, or even having their children taken
into care. The Department for Education says the number of children in care who
they categorise as Gypsy/Roma has quadrupled since 2009.

"The issues we've had with Roma families have been around poor school
attendance, physical chastisement of the children and a lack of boundaries -
letting them stay up all night and run around on the street," says one
London-based social worker who has worked with Polish Roma families.

"Some parents were sending their children out begging, or getting older
children to stay at home and look after their siblings." 'Mentally diseased'

Such lifestyles are typical of many Roma living in countries such as
Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania, where the Roma have experienced a long
history of marginalisation and mistreatment.

British Roma families speaking to The Report said how in their home country
children were segregated at school, and British social workers who have
travelled to Central Europe told us school teachers they met there viewed Roma
children as "mentally diseased".

So it is not surprising that thousands of Roma families
have come to Britain in search of a better life - but a clash of cultures is now
coming to a head, not least because Roma people are just not used to authorities
taking an interest in their welfare.

However, the scale of the problem has now got to a point where Slovakian
authorities are involved in family court cases being heard in the UK which
concern Roma children.

"We have got now probably 40 families with children who have problems in the
UK - around 90% are Roma children, up to 150 children," says Andrea Cisarova,
director for the Centre for International Legal Protection of Children and Youth
in Slovakia, who currently spends about three days per week attending cases
across the UK.

But this level of court intervention, where children could be forcibly
removed from their parents, is alien to many Roma.

"I don't have any doubt about the reasons of the UK social services, when
they see a child is neglected they have to do something," says Miroslav
Wlachovsky, the Slovak ambassador to Britain.

"But that you can adopt children without the consent of their biological
parents, this is an issue which Slovaks do not understand, full stop," he
adds.

One of the key concerns cited in the recent Rotherham case where Roma
children were taken from their foster parents was a lack of cultural sensitivity
- and this is something I have heard from many people in the Roma community
during the course of this investigation.

For example, if very young Roma children are taken into care here in the UK,
they will be raised to speak English, not Roma - and this puts an immediate
barrier between themselves and their parents, who may not speak English,
arguably reducing the chance of reuniting the family in the future. Rising Roma population

As a possible solution, Slovak authorities are encouraging British social
services to send children back to Slovakia to live with their extended family,
if parents here are unable to care for them properly.

There are also calls to enhance the services available
to support Britain's Roma communities, to ensure children can maintain their
cultural links if taken into care - although the coalition government cut the
Migrant Impact Fund in 2010.

Just how many Roma people are living in the UK is unclear.

The local authority-led organisation Migration Yorkshire, which is conducting
research into the Roma population, estimates about 200,000 Roma are currently
living in Britain, although the recent census did not register Roma as a
distinct category, with the closest demographic term being "Gypsy/Traveller".

But the Roma are distinct in culture - and this distinction is important,
because if the government is unsure how many Roma people live in the UK, then it
will not be able to get funds for initiatives to help the Roma out of the tens
of billions of euros the European Union has set aside for social inclusion
projects.

"My challenge to central government is to do what other nations in Europe are
doing and do a proper undertaking of the Roma population - not just the
traveller and gypsy population," says the former Labour Home Secretary David
Blunkett, whose Sheffield constituency has had a significant rise in the Roma
population.

"If we can get that together then we stand a chance of dealing with this
without there being exploitation by those who would like to fan the flames of
discontent."

Britain's Roma population is likely to rise in coming years, when
restrictions are lifted in 2014 on Romanian and Bulgarian migrants working in
the UK - both countries have some of the largest Roma populations in Europe.

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities and Local Government told
the BBC: "The government is committed to helping local authorities to meet the
challenges they are facing in integrating Roma citizens.

"We welcome the initiative by councils in setting up a National Roma Network
to improve understanding and knowledge of the situation of Roma in the UK, to
share expertise and experience, and to help overcome problems in integrating
Roma at the local level."

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FLAG OF THE ROMA

LOLO DIKLO : RrOMANI AGAINST RACISM

Lolo Diklo : Rromani Against Racism is an organization dedicated to providing information about the true situation of the Romani (Gypsies) in the world today. We are committed to confronting racism and oppression wherever it is found.

BACKGROUND

The Romani are a people who are not very well known. We are an ethnic group of people originally from India. We left India and arrived in Europe sometime in the 1300's. There are many theories as to why we left India. This is the work of academics, and we have some. Most Romani are more concerned about daily survival to worry about documentation of our past. We know who we are.

What is known about the Romani is, for the most part, stereotypically based. We are portrayed as romantic, carefree wonderers or child stealers, pick pockets and beggers.

Today the Romani of Europe face the same discrimination they have faced for centuries.